Tonga earthquakes

M5.0 earthquake 161 km NW of Neiafu, Tonga

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 161 km NW of Neiafu, Tonga on Mon, Dec 31, 2018, 8:22 AM GMT-12 (20:22 UTC), 219 km (136 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.2 113 km NNW of Neiafu, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.0 (mb), moderate
Local time: Mon, Dec 31, 2018, 8:22 AM GMT-12
UTC: 2018-12-31 20:22:21 UTC
Depth: 219.4 km (136.3 mi), intermediate-depth
Epicenter: 17.450° S, 174.856° W
Region: Tonga
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 5.5 km horizontally, 4.9 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.04
Depth from: From location
Station coverage gap: 71°
Stations used: 93

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.0 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 6 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today Tonga earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us2000izi1 (also filed as iscgem615091911). Read Mon, Sep 28, 2026, 2:47 AM UTC.